Jason Jacobsohn's Personal Business Timeline: Pre-Teen Years

To get a better sense of how I developed my business and networking skills, I have decided to share with you some of my background from my pre-teen years to launching my blog. In addition to this post, I will roll out posts for Teen Years, College Years, and Post College Years to Launch of Blog. By sharing this content, I hope that you get to know me better.

PRE-TEEN YEARS

I was born in 1973 in Milwaukee, WI, USA.  Milwaukee is known for Harley Davidson Motorcycles, Miller Beer, and Summerfest (one of the largest outdoor music festivals in the world).  Of course, we also known for serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer, but I won’t get into the details.

I grew up with one older brother, an oral surgeon for a father, a teacher for a mother, and a calico cat named Cuddles.   

My Father

My father was born in Germany and moved to the U.S. when he was 6 months old.  He was always a hard worker and owned his own dental practice.  While my dad may not have realized it, he was an entrepreneur who needed to build solid relationships to get referrals and repeat customers.   Relationships, and of course skills, were key to his success as a business owner.  In addition, he taught at the local dental school, Marquette, which was also his alma mater.  Again, without my dad building good relationships in his field, he may not have had this opportunity.  The opportunity was great because it furthered his brand as an expert in oral surgery.  So, my dad taught me that hard work and focus on an expertise can provide a path to success.

My Mother

My mother was born in the South (Shreveport, LA) so she had a friendly accent and Southern hospitality.  She was mostly a substitute teacher growing up.  At times this job was tough, but she learned to be patient with the students.  In addition, she was just an all around nice person who everyone liked.  Further, she was always willing to help others before herself.  She rarely put her own happiness first.  Her sweet demeanor led to a great childhood for me.  She taught me to be nice to people no matter what.  I thank her for teaching me these good values early on in my life.

My Brother

My brother was always a hard worker who over achieved at everything whether it was sports or baseball card collecting.  Early on, he became a baseball card collector and seller.  He impressed me because he was making money from this activity.  He had entrepreneurial instincts as a pre-teen.  I wish more of what he was doing rubbed off on me.  Instead of buying and sellng, I was just buying.  I collected Mad and Cracked magazines.  Eventually, I sold the entire collection.  Anyways, my brother, like my dad, also taught me about hard work and how to turn your passion into a business.

My Cat

I can’t forget my cat, Cuddles, who was with me until college.  She taught me about loyalty and how to care for something.  You always hear about how “dogs are a man’s best friend”.  I beg to differ.

Activities

I kept myself fairly active by playing sports such as soccer, basketball, tennis, golf, baseball, and fishing.  I learned about team work and what it feels like to have success and defeat.  Eventually, golf became my sport of choice (and it still is today). What I didn’t realize at the time was that I was beginning to brand myself with likes and dislikes.  People who know me well today know that golf is a big passion of mine.  I encourage you to think back over your childhood and reminisce about what you did to define who you are today.

As I previously mentioned, one of my hobbies was collecting Mad and Cracked magazines.  I would scour flea markets and rummage sales to find old issues.  I worked hard at finding issues and eventually had just about every one that was published.  I learned the art of negotiation, patience, and persistence by staying focused on a goal.  After many years of collecting and growing up, I eventually sold my collection to a friend who in turn sold it several years later. So, I am happy to say that I contributed to the economy in some way.

In addition to sports and collecting, I had loyal friends who I would see on a weekly basis to do whatever we did at that age, which was watch movies, play video games, have sleepovers, etc.  My friends were important to me and really helped to define who I am today.  In the pre-teen years, you develop alongside your friends so you have a direct impact on each other.  It is a good thing that I had well-behaved friends because my life could be different right now.  I truly believe that the foundations for the rest of your life can be set in your pre-teen days.